First shift!

Yesterday was my first shift in Ramat Gan! Bailey and I woke up at 5 to catch the bus there by 6am (we were really scared of being late, especially since they changed all the buses in Tel Aviv last Friday and eliminated the bus line that we had taken to get to our station introduction meeting last week). We ended up getting onto a not-so-convenient bus, but as we were walking towards the station in Ramat Gan (and periodically stopping to check these giant maps that they have every few blocks), an ambulance drove by us. Since we looked so lost at 6:30 in the morning, he assumed that we were new volunteers for MDA and picked us up and gave us a lift to the station.

I was on an ambulance with the medic/driver and two Israeli volunteers. They were all very nice. Our first two calls were kind of silly – one was cancelled as we were driving there, and we showed up at this man’s apartment and he was like, “why are you here, who called an ambulance?” Turns out he had been on the phone with his doctor and his doctor had called an ambulance. Next, we got called to a man working at a mechanics shop with back pain. He was sitting on a chair when we got there, but the pain was so intense that he was shaking and couldn’t move his legs without intolerable pain. After taking his pulse and BP, we called for a Natan (ICU ambulance) to give him morphine. They started an IV and gave him some drugs, and the pain went away a bit. They ended up taking him to the hospital, and we went to eat lunch in the Bnei Brak police station (turns out the medic is also a police officer).

Our next call was really intense- we got a call for a car accident. On the way there, the call changed to a mass casualty incident. Two buses had hit each other. We drove the entire way with the sirens on and when we arrived, the scene was a mess. People were confused and standing under an underpass. A Egged bus and a minibus filled with children from a camp had collided. We were there for a minute, and we took 3 people to the hospital: a man covered in tiny pieces of glass, a woman that had really bad neck pain (she was quickly placed on a backboard), and the bus driver (his arm was broken and in a sling by the time we arrived).

(From JPost: In another accident on Sunday, two buses collided on Holtz Street in Tel Aviv.

One bus was transporting children, the other was an Egged passenger bus.

Fifteen people were lightly injured in the crash and taken to Wolfson and Ichilov hospitals for treatment.

From Haaretz: Accident reported between Egged bus and minibus carrying children
 


Approximately 50 people, among them young children, were lightly injured Sunday in a collision between an Egged bus and a minibus that carried young children in south Tel Aviv. 


Magen David Adom arrived at the scene and administered first aid, while several people were transferred to Ichilov and Wolfson hospitals in Tel Aviv.)

There was more, but the bus accident was definitely an exciting call. It isn’t often that such a large accident happens. Anyway, at the end of our shift, the medic that picked us up in the morning when we looked lost drove me and Bailey home in his ambulance.

Blog Tag, Lauren You’re It!

Tuesday, June 21-06-11

Shalom Everyone!

Wow, does it ever feel good to be writing again. I hope everyone’s summers are off to a good start. First off I want to start by answering the question, “Does writing again mean that I’m headed back to Israel?” The answer: I still don’t know! Right now I’m spending my summer days studying for the MCAT and working as a research assistant. Sounds fun eh? I hope I make it back to Israel but that will depend on a number of things, especially if there are enough people to open up a Shlav B (2nd level, ICU ambulance) course in August. But for now…

Blogging to me is all about sharing experiences, and there’s no reason why this blog cannot continue again this summer. Since my days aren’t the most exciting, it’s time to pass this baby on! (and let’s face it the web address doesn’t really suit anything else). So I’ve teamed up with one of my bestest buds Lauren! I met Lauren on MDA-מד''א last summer (we were both stationed in Tel Aviv) and we have continued our friendship back home. She was right by my side on the ambulances and is definitely the perfect person to carry this on. She’s headed back for Shalav Bet, Course Natan (קורס נט''ן), the 2nd level, the ICU ambulance course, whatever you want to call it. In fact, she’s on the plane right now!! Lauren’s no rookie to this MDA game. She knows the city, the language, and most importantly the MDA system. This summer, she’ll be tackling Ramat Gan (a smaller suburb of Tel Aviv) and living with the MDA housing, an experience I didn’t have. She’s hopefully going to get to experience some of the more challenging situations on the ambulances and deal with CPRs, IVs, and drugs like it’s nobodies business. I’ll let her get into all the details. As for now this is just some heads up. This blog is going to be taking on a new look, new voice, and most excitingly new adventures. So give her a chance to complete the natan-נט''ן (ICU ambulance) course and check back in later. And who knows, I may be joining her sooner than I think.

Cheers for now,
Lisa

Home

Tuesday, August-10-10

So I’m finally back home. I don’t think I realised just how excited I was until they announced, “we are now beginning our final decent” and I just couldn’t stop smiling. Israel is such a special place for me, but after over 2.5 months I was more than ready to see my family and friends and sleep in my own bed. I’m not even going to try a recount my מד''א-MDA experience, because well it’s all right here. My experiences still astonish me and I really do think I got more out of it than I gave in return. My decision to participate in the program was far from spontaneous and I’m sad to see it actually come to an end after almost 5 months of anticipation. I’m not sure what’s going to come of this blog in the future, but I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to read. Though I won’t be writing any new posts for a while I’ll definitely still be responding to new comments so prospective מד''א-MDA volunteers, ask away. As to if I’m planning on returning for the next course, I really hope so, but I’ll wait to see what next summer brings.

Until my next Israel adventure,
Lisa

Last Shift...Successful CPR!

Saturday, August-07-10

This entire time I’ve been thinking (and writing) that I’ve had great calls, but I really want to experience החיאה-hachiyah (CPR) while I’m here in מד'א-MDA. Well tonight that’s exactly what I got to do, and on my last shift!

The shift began quite disorganised as usual. After calling the volunteer coordinator my chul partner and I got placed on the נט''ן-natan (ICU) with a paramedic and an EMT, which was very exciting. So we waited and waited for a call and at 1am we still hadn’t been out once. Then a driver got a call on one of the regular ambulances and for some reason he was alone so he asked me to come with him. We went and it was a נסיעה רגילה-nesiya regila (regular/non emergency call) for a man who was feeling ‘weak’. The call was quick and we didn’t even wait at Ichilov for our break since it turned out that that driver was part of another team at a difference station and was just at main station to get something. As soon as he turned off the ambulance my original team finally got a call. We went out to רמת גן-Ramat Gan for an older woman who had pneumonia. It was also pretty simple, but since we were with all the advanced equipment we got to do a lot more in the ambulance like connect her to the monitor and start an IV line. While at the hospital on our break we got a call. On the computer all it said was 90y/o woman—breathing. We didn’t really know what to expect but when we opened the door a woman just pointed for us in the direction of a room.

We entered and the woman was unconscious and on the ground next to the bed. Next the חובש-chovesh (medic) connected the monitor and we could see that she didn’t have pulse and had flat line so the paramedic start, let’s start החיאה-hachiya (CPR). I began compressions with the cardiopump while the medic and the other chulnik set up for intubation and the paramedic started opening lines and giving drugs. After the intubation was secure my chul partner and I kept switching between ventilations and compressions, while the others were dealing with all the drugs. We had closed the door to the bedroom and there was no air conditioner so we were all dripping with sweat and it was really hard to manoeuvre around since the room was so small. They taught us in class to never cross over a patient but in this case, that went out the window. We even had to throw a few things across and we went through equipment like mad. I think we were all so busy, switching positions, opening IVs (at one stage I was ventilating with one hand against my thigh and opening IV’s for the paramedic with my teeth) that we didn’t notice the moment the machine started beeping the moment her heart rate returned. The paramedic was just said to stop compressions and we all just starred at the screen. Surely her pulse had returned after about 15-20min since starting, and it was now beating a just over 100beats/min, it was pretty amazing to see. After about 5mins of her having a stable heart rate, we called for another team to come and help us with the evacuation. The rest of the time I continued to ventilate, always watching to CO2 level on the monitor and we began to clean up while we waited. In the end I finally got the story of what had happened, and it turned out that she had woken up not being able to breathe and then fell unconscious and she had been unconscious for about 5min before we got there.

Getting her to the ambulance was also a challenge. The elevator could not fit our bed so our paramedic decided to put on a neckbrace (she was still intubated and unconscious) and use the chair. It took the four men to lift her and then we moved very slowly since I was still ventilating. Once in the ambulance there wasn’t much to do besides continue ventilations, and once we arrived I was quite surprised in how little there was to do there as well. They connected her to a ventilator, opened new lines (since ours had collapsed from pushing drugs so quickly) and that was about it.

Walking out of the emergency room was a great feeling. It was the first time I realised that it was actually we had beat the odds, our attempt being successful. Back at the ambulance the four of us just sat smiling while we reset all our equipment. This time we actually really needed our break not only to clean up the ambulance, but also to take a minute to rest. From arriving at the apartment to the hospital it had been about 1 hour and 15 minutes and we had all worked hard. I didn’t even notice how thirsty I had gotten up I went for a drink at the hospital and couldn’t stop drinking.

After we evacuated from the hospital we got another call without getting a chance to go back to the station. This call was for an old man with asthma who was having trouble breathing and we took him to Ichilov. It was also simple, but it was a slow transfer and by now the high of the CPR had worn off and we were all feeling the fact that we hadn’t slept all night. The best part about this call for me was that when we got back to the hospital we checked on the woman and she was now half breathing on her own, it was definitely neat to see. By the time we left to head back to the station, it was close to the end of the shift and thankfully we didn’t get another call.

Leaving the station that morning was weird. My drivers from the night knew it was my last shift and we said goodbye and I went to say bye to our volunteer coordinator at the station but that was really it. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending though. CPR was something I really glad to have now experienced and although I I’ve learned that in מד''א-MDA it isn’t always about all the exciting calls I am definitely happy to have ended so positively.

I slept for most of the morning and then I went out and enjoyed the shuk (market), did some shopping before everything closed for Shabbas, and went out for lunch with a good friend of mine. Today is my best friend’s birthday so I’m celebrating with her and it’s also my last day here. I’m avoiding packing as usual and I really can’t believe that I’m heading back already. I’m more than excited to see my family and friends back home but I don’t quite know how to feel about leaving Israel, especially since I don’t know when I’ll be back. Hopefully I’ll get one last post in before I leave tomorrow morning, until then enjoy your weekends!

ים המלך-The Dead Sea

Thursday, August-05-10

Tonight I am finally back in Tel Aviv after what feels like much more than just a few days. The trip was fantastic and a great way to end my time here in Israel. We really just relaxed, slept, and enjoyed the sun, and even topped the trip off with massages. To get there we took one of the frequent buses from Arlozorov Station here in TA to the Central Bus Station (CBS) in Jerusalem and then a direct bus to ים המלך-Yam Hamelech (The Dead Sea). This gave us many more options for when to leave since there is only one direct bus from TA each day which left well too early in the morning for us. On the way there the bus was full so about 4 of us decided to sit on the floor instead of waiting another hour for the next bus. It was actually really comfortable and when seats became available after a few stops, I actually decided to remain on the floor. It’s only a 2hr drive from Jerusalem and the bus is really great and dropped us off right outside our hotel. Our last day there we decided to leave around noon so we could spend the day at the Old City. When we arrived we changed into more appropriate clothes for the כותל-Kotel (Western Wall) and went for the #1 Egged bus. Just getting on the bus was an adventure. People were trying to push past each other when there was no room to move, and I could just feel the לחץ-lachatz (pressure) everywhere we went. I’m sure it’s like this in many other cities around the world, but in Jerusalem I just felt that everything was much smaller and there were many more people. I also realised just how much I do not know Jerusalem. Living in Tel Aviv I feel like I know the city so well and it makes me feel like I know Israel, but today was a reality that I really don’t. We ended up getting off a stop or two too early and walking through this Arab Shuk (market). It was really fine, but once we got to the Jewish Quarter, and saw the security check, we were quite relieved. I love being at the the כותל-Kotel (Western Wall) and since knew this was my last time there for a while we took our time. When we decided to leave this time we gave up on the bus and took a taxi back to the CBS. The direct bus to TA leaves every 15min so it wasn’t a problem, except there were so many people that we had to wait for a second bus. And at this time of the evening there was a lot of traffic so it took us well over the hour it would usually take. On the bus I was thinking about all the things I wanted to do before I left and since I only had one day left with the stores open we decided to try and see if we could change from tomorrow morning’s shift to the tongiht. There was room so we went straight home to eat, shower, and now I’m off to my last shift! Hopefully I can stay awake, walking trough Jerusalem with all our things from our trip was so tiring.

From the Lowest Point on Earth...

Tuesday, August-03-10

Since my last post I have made my way to ים המלח-The Dead Sea. I’m here a best friend of mine who I’ve been with this entire time and we basically just decided to take a vacation within a vacation. I’ll be here three days, so I’ll post more about it later on, but so far it’s beyond gorgeous and relaxing. Now to recall my shift from Sunday night...

To start, my shift partner and I arrived to מזא''ה-Mazeh station 15min early for our shift and no one was to be found. We weren’t even sure if our driver had arrived yet so we waited. 30min went by and the driver from the previous shift came back and told us that our driver was already out but to call the dispatch, which for our region is situated at the main station. I did and someone told me that our driver should be back shortly. So we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally at about 1am our driver walked in. It turned out he had been on אבטחה-avtacha (security/protection?) at a soccer game since 7pm and kept getting calls before he could get back to the station to pick us up. So we didn’t actually miss him and it wasn’t really anyone’s fault and at least he told us we didn’t miss anything worthwhile.

Our first call came in at 2am and by this time I was really ready to go. We arrived to a young women lying in the bathtub screaming in pain. To this point this is the worst agony I’ve ever seen a patient in. Turns out boiling water had spilled on her while she was sitting in bed and she had 2° burns on her abdomen, leg, & arm which covered about 10-15% of her body. In the ambulance the treatment for burns in to cover them with gauze and to take the IV bag of saline and continuously saturate them. After speaking with dispatch, our driver was told to take her to תל השומר-Tel HaShomer hospital since it was better for burn treatment. Even with sirens going it was a good 15min drive from where we were and was this drive ever something. In that 15min we were continuously busy, opening gauze pad, IV kits, and trying to get some vitals, with this poor woman in complete agony the entire way. As soon as we got her into the emergency room they were ready with morphine and I think that was a relief to all of us in the room. My partner and I returned back to the ambulance, and wow, was it ever a mess. We had gone through almost every piece of gauze we had (all individually wrapped) and all three IV kits, plus we had a nice little flood. It took us a while to clean up and in the end we had to head back to the main station since we were in disparate need for supplies.

We finally made it back to our station and got about an hour of sleep. We were all so tired and it hardly seemed like we had only been on one call. One cancelled call later we got our next real call. It was for a שרוע-sarooa. I don’t think I’ve commented on this before (which is strange) but that’s MDA slang for a homeless or more generally someone who is just lying somewhere. Most of the time these calls don’t turn out to be anything more than a concerned passerby, but you never do know. We get to the first man and surely he doesn’t want/need our help. Immediately we got another call for a שרוע-sarooa and then yet another, this time for two on opposite sides of the road. And none of them needed anything. At that time of the morning, I don’t think any of us were appreciating those calls very much, but what can you do. After another well needed hour of sleep we got yet another call for a שרוע-sarooa. This one was actually needed and when we got there the police had already arrived. This guy must of been drunk or on some kind of drugs because he was barely responding, and in the end they just moved him around the corner and that was all. So not such an eventful shift, but I really enjoyed it with my chulnik partner, especially since it was her last shift. I am hopefully to fit in one more for myself on Friday morning, but I will see how the week goes. As for now, I’m going back to the pool.

One Week Left

Sunday, August-01-10

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, but truthfully not all that much has happened. I just had my last full weekend here in Israel. Spent it hanging out with family and friends, went to a birthday party, and to the beach. Really couldn’t have asked for anything more. Today I did a bit of shopping and realised that now I’ve ‘crossed over’ to the Hebrew side. What I mean by that is that instead of changing to English, store workers now rather speak to me in Hebrew. It’s definitely a nice feeling and probably one of the reasons I feel so comfortable here. Tonight I’m doing an overnight shift at מזא''ה-Mazeh with another chulnikit. It’s going to be her last shift and who knows, perhaps mine as well so we’re going to try our best to not be split up and to have some fun. It’s been weird with everyone leaving and finishing at different times and as another chulnik put it, the end was kind of anticlimactic. It almost sucks in a way, but in מד''א-MDA people are always coming and going so I guess it was too be expected, just like our arrival. Perhaps tonight I’ll also get to meet some of the new Tel Aviv chulnikim at Ichilov since they started their shifts today. For the rest of the week, I plan to hit up Jerusalem one last time and I’m still trying to organise a trip for a couple of nights to ים המלך-The Dead Sea, and then on my last night it’s my best friend’s 20th birthday. I’m hoping this is going to be week to remember because I have no idea when I’ll be back, life just happens. With that said, come on, החיאה-hachiya (CPR) tonight please.